From Place To Space

Since ancient times, there has been a tradition in the East to invite an enlightened person to one's place of living or to the place where one does business. What is the reason behind this?

Contrary to what we think or understand, home is not a place where you just live. It is the way in which you live! Understand clearly, home is not the place where you live; it is the way in which you live.

Home is an expansion or extension of your being. That is the concept on which the science of Vāstu Shāstra is based. This science is a branch of Hindu Vedic Science that explains the ways and methods of how a dwelling should be constructed. It is based on the basic five elements in the Universe. As we all know, the five elements of the universal energy (known as panchabhootas in Sanskrit), are Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether (or Space). All the five elements are nothing but forms of the Existential energy.

In the Hindu scriptural works, the Upanishad, it is said, 'The whole Universe comes from Energy.' It comes from the Atman (Existence residing in each individual). From Atman comes Akasha (ether), from Akasha comes Vayu (air), from Vayu comes Agni (fire), from Agni comes Apaha (water) and from Apaha comes Prithvi (Earth). All these five elements are pure energy and not matter, as we think they are.

Only now, scientists have turned towards spirituality for explanations such as this. Einstein once said, 'What I want to know is God's thoughts, the rest are mere details!' Einstein was an intelligent man.

Before Einstein, scientists dismissed spiritual people as fools or as people who had lost the faculties of their mind. Scientists are so used to working on the basis of logic that they think of ancient Masters as fools or humbugs. In fact, some of the philosophical books classify strong religious faith, spiritual experiences and consciousness as mental disorders of some kind.

For a long time, the logical world thought of the sages, rishis, as mentally sick people and whose words had no relevance in the modern day-to-day world. Their sayings were ridiculed as superstition or senseless rituals. Ironically, it was after a few statements that Einstein made on spirituality and on God, that the logical scientific world turned towards the Upanishads, ancient Hindu scriptures.

Einstein said, 'Whatever exists is nothing but pure energy.' The Upanishads made this statement 5000 years earlier in the first line of the Isa Vasya Upanishad, 'All matter arose from Energy.'

There is nothing that divides matter and energy. So, whatever exists is, in fact, pure energy. Some of you may ask, 'How is it that matter becomes energy and energy becomes matter?' Such questions cannot be answered by science; they can only be answered by the mystics.

When asked this question, Einstein replied, 'Where science ends, spirituality begins!' The last word in science which is, 'Whatever exists is Energy' is the first word in the Upanishads so many thousands of years ago. The first Veda is the Rig Veda and the first Upanishad is the Isa Vasya Upanishad. The first statement in the Isa Vasya Upanishad is 'Īśā vāsyam idaṁ sarvam' (from this Energy arises all matter).

The 'gross energy' is matter; the 'subtle matter' is energy. All the five elements, Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether, are nothing but energy. In the East, there is a tradition of worshipping these five elements. Spirituality actually started by worshipping these five elements. In the earliest scriptures, from the Veda and Upanishads, there is no mention about Gods or Goddesses! There is no form that is mentioned in the Keno Upanishad; there is mention only of nature. Nature was considered to be the 'Doorway to Divinity'.

It is easy to recognize the forms of energy as they manifest in nature. The Earth energy is recognized by the power manifested by stones and volcanoes, as the ever-changing nature of Earth, as the powerful deities that are made out of Earth and installed in temples. Similarly, water energy is manifested in the form of floods, rains and holy rivers. The fire energy is perceived in the form of lightning, heat, fire rituals and so on. The air energy is apparent in the form of cyclones, tornadoes and our very breath. It is easy to comprehend these energies, since they manifest or appear physically. However, it is difficult to understand the ether energy, the fifth form of energy. Ether, or the space energy, is so subtle that one cannot see it, perceive it or feel it. The more subtle the energy, the more powerful it becomes and the more difficult it is to appreciate.

Ancient Masters, therefore, created the science of Vastu, to harness the energy of Space, or the Ether, in the correct and proper way. You would appreciate that man has manufactured many pieces of equipment or instruments to use the energies from the first four elements. For example, he has designed an oven to use the fire energy to cook food and the turbine to produce electricity from the water energy. Similarly, our Masters have designed Vastu Shastra to harness the Space or Ether energy.

Vastu Shastra is the science of the structure of a building. It is a study to use the Space energy effectively within the house. It deals with how effectively we can enclose space inside a building to optimize its effect on the inhabitants of the house. There are three types of space:

• Space inside the body, called Chitākāsha
• Space surrounding the body, called Katākāsha, in an enclosed space
• Space surrounding the Universe, called Mahākāsha

The Mahākāsha is always energetic and pure. The Katākāsha, although pure, can become impure by one's thoughts. The Katākāsha has the property to either gain energy or lose energy by one's thoughts. It acts as if it is a live being. Your house, for instance, is filled with an energy that can easily be contaminated by the thoughts of those who live in it. Therefore, never think of your house as just cement and concrete decorated to your style. It is not just matter; it is a storehouse of energy that has a direct bearing upon your well-being. It has the capacity to exchange energy.

Your house is an expression of energy

When we compress water or fluids, it becomes energy (theory of Fluid Mechanics). When we compress air, it becomes energy. It has the capacity to drive many machines (Pneumatics). When we change the shape of a gross material (the Earth energy), such as iron ore, into a rod or a plate,

Part 2: Don't Worry, Be Happy!

it has its own properties. The same material has different properties when it takes up different shapes. If we make the iron ore into a sphere or a ball, it becomes very strong, dense and powerful. This is the way shape and compression affect matter.

Likewise, whenever we change the space inside our homes, the energy changes according to the change in space. This is a very subtle concept and we need to understand this clearly. Once we grasp this concept, we will appreciate the great gift of wisdom that our Masters have given us.

Just as the gross elements can be cast into different shapes to hold different energies, Ether can be transformed or molded into a different space and will radiate a different effect accordingly. Vastu Shastra is a science to make the best use of the Ether energy. It is the technique to use 'Ether Energy' efficiently and maximize the energy that is present.

Ether, therefore, can be controlled in a space, and that, in turn, controls those inside the space. The people who are inside the space, their thoughts, affect the Ether in that space, and the Ether in turn affects their thoughts. You may have experienced that when you sit outside in nature; under a clear blue sky, you feel expanded. Your being feels light and joyful. You feel your personality expanding and transforming; you feel bigger and without boundaries. Whereas, when you enter a small room with a low roof, you feel compressed and limited. Your mind does not feel free and your thoughts do not flow.

The dimensions of the room we are in play a major role in influencing our minds and thought processes. Our thoughts play a major role in influencing the place in which we live. A house is not a place where we live; a house is 'how we live'. Vastu Shastra says, 'All that exists in our surroundings, such as people, furniture, all animate and inanimate things, respond to our thoughts.' This has been proven beyond a doubt by a number of pieces of research.

An experiment was carried out by placing three rose plants in three different rooms labeled A, B and C. The plants in these rooms were taken care of in a similar manner and were replaced with a new one everyday. However, there was one major difference. The plants in room 'A', while being watered, were cursed profusely and condemned with the worst choice of words. The plants in room 'B' were given a neutral treatment. The plants in room 'C' were heaped with encouraging words of praise and goodwill. The experiment was carried out by different people, twenty-one times a day, for eleven days.

The result was amazing! It was found that all the rose plants that had been in room 'A' did not survive and later simply died. The plants in room 'B' grew normally but the plants that had been taken care of in room 'C' grew beyond normal expectations and yielded twice as much! Just by the power of thought and word, the very growth and life of the rose plants was affected. So you can understand the extent to

which objects in the surroundings reciprocate or respond to thoughts.

In another experiment, equipment (similar to the ECG in a graphical format) that measured vibrations from trees was connected to ten different trees. A woodcutter was asked to earmark one tree with a strong intention of cutting it down. It was found that that tree, alone, showed skewed readings. The other trees read normal. Like this, several experiments have been conducted to show that thoughts affect the animate and inanimate things in the surrounding areas.

The Vastu Shastra postulates that all the thoughts in a house are captured and stored in the Ether space in it. The space is, therefore, not dead or insensitive. It is 'live' energy. These thoughts grow like cobwebs. Then, they radiate the same negative thoughts back to us. Therefore, if the inhabitants of the house harbour repeated negative thought patterns, the cobwebs of negative thoughts will get installed in the space within. What can be seen physically can be cleaned. However, what cannot be seen cannot be cleaned physically. Therefore, whether one believes in it or not, whether one accepts it or not, thoughts are stored in the place where one lives.

People have asked me, 'Swamiji, when I am outside the house, I feel happy and joyous. Whereas the moment I enter the house, I feel depressed.'

The house is Katākāsha, a living space. Grihalakshmi, Goddess of Wealth, is supposed to reside in the space inside the home. Somebody asked me, 'Swamiji, I want joy and bliss to flood my house.' I told her, 'You will find it when you yourself radiate joy and love and shower your love and affection on your children and your husband. Meditate and radiate positive vibrations first, yourself; that is the best way to open your doors to Grihalakshmi.'

She then immediately asked me, 'Swamiji, shall I then do Grihalakshmi puja (offering or worship)?'

Please understand that it is all right to do the puja but what is the use when, after the puja, you come out of the puja room and do an archana to your husband! (archana means prayers. Here it means an outpouring of negative words!)

Puja to Lakshmi and archana to the husband! Will it help? No! It will in no way help. Your thoughts and words continuously energize the house in your presence. Therefore, it is up to you, whether you want to energize it positively or negatively. Unfortunately, most of the time, we are expressing words that are only complaining or expressing discontentment of some sort. Do we ever remember talking positively about our own health or about other people or about our work at home or office? Do we ever recall saying nice things about what is going on in the world, about the beauty of nature or about how wonderful it is to be alive in this wonder filled Universe? No! We release only negative emotions and words within the space where we live, and this contaminates and pollutes the space completely.

A flowing river is pure. If it stagnates, it becomes impure and foul. It gets covered with scum. When a person enters such water, he, too, gets covered with the scum. In the same way, the energy inside a house needs to be flowing; only then life in it will be bubbling with joy. If there is negativity in the space inside the house, the energy gets clogged and stagnates, and it affects the people in it. When this happens, you start complaining that, when you enter your own home, your joyful mood takes a dip into an all-too-familiar hole of depression.

• A small story: Two friends met up after 10 years and decided to have lunch together. They discussed many things, from marriage to career to social life. One of them asked if the other was leading a happy married life. The other asked him a question in reply, 'Do you know what it means to come home to a wonderful wife and two adorable kids who think you are the best father in the world?' The other replied, 'Wow! It must be awesome….' The first man finished, 'It means you are in the wrong house!'

You see, this is how each one feels about the other and the house!

Anyhow, when a Master, who is the embodiment of the Existential energy, enters a house, when he sets foot in a house, he is like the Mahākāsha, a flowing river or open sky that is entering. The enlightened person is the Universe in himself, because there is nothing inside him. He is just a hollow channel for the Existential energy to flow. He has no thoughts, good or bad. He is just emptiness, an open sky. It is through him that the energy radiates.

People ask me, 'Swamiji, how do you heal? Do you chant any mantra or do any sankalpa for the person to be healed?' I do neither. In fact, I don't even consciously think that the person should get healed. I don't even wish for the person to get healed of whatever diseases they might be suffering from.

I just give them the Presence and healing happens! When somebody comes, I just touch them; I allow the energy to flow; I let go of the energy and allow it to do what it wants. The healing happens, that's all.

Master means, a person with no thoughts or with no mind, who is the representative of the Mahākāsha, Universal space. When the Mahākāsha enters the Katākāsha, that is the space in the house, it is simply flooded with energy. It is like a big river entering into a small pool! The dirty pool is simply washed away, cleansed and filled with pure water.

When a Master enters the space where you live, it is simply rejuvenated or recreated. It is said that the Vastu (matter)

becomes Vastu (space where you live). That is why we say, place or matter is different from the space. Remember, the place can be cleaned by a vacuum cleaner, whereas space can be cleaned only by your meditation or by a Master's presence! When people gather too much dirt (negativity) in the space where they live, it can be cleansed or burnt by the Master's presence, in a moment.

These concepts are too subtle to be understood by logic; they can only be understood by examples and by understanding them step by step. Let me tell you, where logic ends, great things begin to happen! Great things never happen by your logic. If they do, then logic becomes greater than God and it can never be.

People ask, 'Swamiji, why don't you prove the existence of God; why don't you prove it by logic?' I tell them, 'When you try to prove God by logic, then logic becomes greater than God!' God is great, because he is greater than, or beyond, logic. He cannot be measured or attained by your logic. These are the subtle truths; they are so profound that they cannot be understood by logic.

It is as simple and as profound as the existence of the sun. Whether you want it or not, believe it or not, the sun will always rise in the East. One may try to prove logically that the sun does not rise in the East, but can that change the existence of the Universal Truth? The sun will always rise in the East. Truths are of two types: evidence based and

experience based. The existence of God is the truth that has been experienced by the great rishis.

Whenever an enlightened Master or a spiritual person, such as a saint or a seer, enters a space, the space is simply flooded with energy. Many come to me and say, 'Swamiji, what magic have you done? Ever since you stepped into our house, so many good things have started happening!' I tell them, 'I have not done anything, and that is the magic!'

So many of you always try to do something or want to do something and end up with something different in trying to do something else! But a master does nothing. His presence does everything.

Therefore, whenever a 'nobody' enters the space, i.e. a man who has become the akasha (the ether), the whole space becomes 'spaciousness'. A man who is enlightened is mahaakasha; he is 'without boundaries'. A man who is limited by boundaries is chitaakasha. So, when a chitaakasha becomes a mahaakasha, and enters a kataakasha, the whole space is cleansed and flooded with energy. The 'space' becomes 'spaciousness' and it comes back to its original pure state of life.

That is why it is said, 'Tirtiye kurvanti tirtinah.' When an enlightened person enters a place, it becomes a 'Tirta' (a place of pilgrimage near a holy river). Grihalakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth who resides in the house, enters into such ecstasy, that the place becomes a 'Tirta'. It is also said that, when we go and bathe in the sacred river Ganges, all our sins are washed away. Whereas, when an enlightened person goes to the Ganges and dips, the Ganges is cleansed of the sins! It becomes pure and holy!

This is what Ramakrishna Paramahamsa also said when he was asked why he went on a 'Tirta Yatra', pilgrimage to the holy water spots. Wherever he dipped, the water got purified. Masters descend with the tremendous responsibility of bringing good will to mankind. So they do all that they can, in whatever way that they can, to fulfill this responsibility.

Q) Swamiji, we have so many Gods and Goddesses in our house. How does that help in cleansing the house?

A) When you have real respect and adoration for the Gods and Goddesses, your mind acts like a bridge to bring the Mahaakasha in. The faith and the trust act like drill bits to open and bring the Mahaakasha into the Kataakasha. The faith and trust make the idols alive. If there is no faith or trust, then it is just a stone statue.

Just having belief will not do. You should have faith. Belief is different from faith. Having belief is just like having a secret wish that something is true. It is not deep rooted. Faith, on the other hand, is an experiential feeling or emotion. It is deep rooted and can become unshakeable if it is allowed to grow in the right direction.

But some of us have faith of convenience! If we pass our exams, then Lord Ganesa is worshipped. However, if we fail, then our idol, Lord Ganesa, hits the road!

This type of faith is not good. It is only if you have the real feeling that the photos or statues of the Gods are embodiments of energy, will you be able to feel how they cleanse the whole space. Faith and trust have the unique power to expand the Chitaakasha. It is said that the faith of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa gave life to a statue of Goddess Kali.

In the temple of Goddess Kali in Dakshineshwar, the deity has four hands, of which one hand holds a sword that can be removed, and another holds a skull that cannot be removed.

It is a practice in the temple to adorn the Kali deity with conch bangles on her hands. It is easy to insert the bangle on three hands, including the one holding a sword. However, inserting the bangle into the hand holding the skull is not possible.

The temple priest used to put the bangles on the three hands and place the fourth at the feet of the Goddess, as it was impossible to put it on.

Ramakrishna said, 'Why can't you put it on?' He went inside the sanctorum and put the bangle on the fourth hand.

The priest was surprised and asked if Ramakrishna broke the hand. Ramakrishna replied, 'Why, what is the need? I just told her to put the skull down for some time and I inserted the bangle. Now she's holding the skull again!'

Such was his faith in Mother Kali that the deity simply did what he requested it to do. Even now, you can go and see the idol. They allow you to go and touch the idol there. You can actually see the conch bangle without any breakage and the hand also intact.

When you feel that the deities are alive, they become real energy centers. They become your bridge to the Universe.

Idols are not mere idols; they are energy. That is why I say, worship is never of the idol, it is through the idol, the Existential energy.

In the Hindu sect of Vaishnavism, there is reference to a Divine incarnation, or avatar, called the Archaavatara. Apart from the dasavatara (ten living incarnations of the Lord) that are described in the Hindu epics, they believe in one more avatar, wherein the Lord takes the form of whichever idol you have immense faith in.

So no logic can explain these phenomena or concepts. Trust has got a tremendous capacity to create a bridge between you and Existence. Never think that anything is dead matter. Everything is 'live' energy.

Q) Can singing bhajans (devotional songs) create positive vibrations?

A) Surely they do. Bhajans are positive energy. The problem is that we do not understand 'emotion'. That is why I do not delve on bhakti and prayers, because prayer cannot happen unless one has had a glimpse of meditation. Unless you have had a glimpse of the energy or the ecstasy, prayer cannot happen, and then, whatever you do is like putting up an application with no proper credentials. All applications without proper credentials are simply consigned to the dust bin! So, when you have not experienced something on your own merit, it gets wasted and there is no benefit from it.